BILOXI, Miss. � Before a season-high crowd of 7,126 fans at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Pensacola won its 50th game of the season becoming the sixth team in ECHL history to reach that plateau, as the Ice Pilots outlasted the Mississippi Sea Wolves 5-4 in the shootout.
�It was an entertaining game in front of a lot of fans,� Mississippi coach Bob Woods said. �There was a great atmosphere in the building. Everything went great except the end result. We�re making it tough on ourselves trying to sew up the fourth seed in the American Conference. It�s all going to come down to the final regular season game tomorrow at Pensacola to determine the final seedings for the Kelly Cup Playoffs.�
Mississippi (39-23-9, 87 points) set the tone in the hard-hitting first period. Jeff Hutchins, who returned earlier in the from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League, leveled Jordan Krestanovich inside the Sea Wolves zone. Krestanovich went to the locker room for medical attention but would return later in the stanza.
Pensacola (50-16-5, 105 points) opened the score at the 1:36 mark on the power-play. Nick Lindberg buried a centering pass from Alex Materukhin getting the puck past Phil Sauve. Lindberg�s 13th goal of the season was also assisted by Corey Neilson, who was named to the All-ECHL Second Team earlier in the day.
The Sea Wolves tied the score on a power-play of their own. Anthony Battaglia sent a wrist shot from the point position through traffic at 8:32 and by goaltender Frederic Cloutier, who was also named to the All-ECHL Second Team earlier in the day. Set up by Mike Jarmuth, the goal for Anthony Battaglia was his team-leading 27th goal of the campaign and 50th of his Mississippi career.
Just 48 seconds later, Mississippi went ahead 2-1. Hutchins came out of the corner and snapped a left circle shot into the back of the net for his 19th ECHL goal of the season. Travis Lisabeth and Jay Legault had helpers.
In the second Pensacola exploded with three unanswered goals. Lindberg registered his second of the game, an unassisted tally at 38 seconds of the middle stanza to tie the score at 2-2.
The Ice Pilots grabbed a 3-2 lead at 3:22. Krestanovich scored a power-play goal for his 27th marker of the campaign set up by Neilson and Materukhin.
Pensacola continued to pour it on, as Materukhin gave the Ice Pilots a 4-2 lead at 5:28 assisted by Krestanovich.
Mississippi pulled within one at 8:18. Hutchins pumped home his 20th marker of the year with helpers going to the Battaglia brothers, Bates and Anthony.
The Sea Wolves scored their third goal of the game on the man advantage with 1:12 left in the second. Bates Battaglia jammed in the puck at the side of the net for his sixth goal of the season. Hutchins and Jarmuth garnered assists.
The game remained tied until the shootout. Dumont scored for Mississippi, but Krestanovich and Aaron Phillips notched goals for Pensacola. Cloutier stopped Bates Battaglia in the fifth round of the shootout to secure the Ice Pilots win.
Mississippi converted on 3-of-8 power play chances, while Pensacola went 2-for-8. Ice Pilots outshot the Sea Wolves 34-33.
Additional Note: Sea Wolves defenseman Austin Miller appeared in the 200th game of his professional career, all with Mississippi.
Mississippi wraps up its regular season with a road game starting at 7:05 p.m. tomorrow versus the Ice Pilots at the Pensacola Civic Center. Watch the live web telecast for $6, courtesy of B2 Networks, online at msseawolves.com. With the pregame show beginning at 6:50 p.m., listen live on flagship radio station WGCM-AM 1240, or online at msseawolves.com, courtesy of Teamline.
Individual tickets for the Kelly Cup Playoffs, which begin next week, are on sale at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster locations by calling (228) 385-2600 and online at ticketmaster.com.
Season ticket packages for 2005-06, the 10th Anniversary Season of the Sea Wolves, are on sale now by calling (228) 275-WOLF. Ask about the �Early Bird Special.�
--- Box Score ---
SCORE BY PERIODS
Pensacola 1 3 0 1--5
Mississippi 2 2 0 0--4
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Pensacola-Lindberg 13 (power play)
(Materukhin; May) 1:36. 2, Mississippi-Battaglia 27 (power play)
(Jarmuth) 8:32. 3, Mississippi-Hutchins 19 (Lisabeth; Legault) 9:20.
Penalties: Cava, MIS (Fighting, Major), 1:09. Gionet, PEN (Fighting,
Major), 1:09. Cava, MIS (Slashing), 1:09. Martone, MIS
(Cross checking), 1:36. Rooneem, PEN (Slashing), 6:57. Drake, MIS
(Tripping), 9:47. May, PEN (Tripping), 10:51. Rooneem, PEN
(Cross checking), 15:05. Battaglia, MIS (Tripping), 18:52.
Krestanovich, PEN (Unsportsmanlike Cond), 19:43.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Pensacola-Lindberg 14 (unassisted) 0:38. 5,
Pensacola-Krestanovich 27 (power play) (Neilson; Materukhin) 3:22. 6,
Pensacola-Materukhin 11 (Krestanovich) 5:28. 7, Mississippi-Hutchins 20
(power play) (Battaglia; Battaglia) 8:18. 8, Mississippi-Battaglia 6
(power play) (Hutchins; Jarmuth) 18:48. Penalties: Legault, MIS
(Slashing), 1:29. Greenough, MIS (Fighting, Major), 4:16. O'Keefe,
PEN (Fighting, Major), 4:16. Neilson, PEN (Cross checking), 6:23.
Greeley, MIS (Hooking), 9:00. D'Amour, PEN (Slashing), 17:34.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Lisabeth, MIS (Slashing),
13:21. May, PEN (Slashing), 20:00.
OVERTIME -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Hutchins, MIS (Hooking), 1:51.
Beckett, PEN (Roughing, Unsportsmanlike Cond, Double minor), 4:50.
SHOTS ON GOAL
Pensacola 9 12 9 4--34
Mississippi 10 12 9 2--33
Power Play Conversions: Pensacola - 2 of 8, Mississippi - 3 of 8.
Goalies: Pensacola-Cloutier (33 shots, 29 saves; record: 31-12-3).
Mississippi-Sauve (34 shots, 30 saves; record: 13-3-4).
A: 7126. Referee: Thul. Linesmen: Ross; Wright.
